In Asian monsoon countries, such as China and India, human health and safety problems caused by air pollution are becoming increasingly serious, due to the increased loading of atmospheric pollutants from waste gas emissions and from rising energy demand associated with the rapid pace of industrialization and modernization.

The Secretary-General, Michel Jarraud, recently made official visits to a number of Member countries as briefly reported below. He wishes to place on record his gratitude to those Members for the kindness and hospitality extended to him.

http://www.mce2.org The Mexico City Metropolitan Area is one of the world’s largest megacities with an estimated 20 million inhabitants living on the dried bed of the elevated lake Texcoco and its surroundings. The inland basin is at an altitude of 2 240 msl and is surrounded on three sides by mountains and volcanoes, with an opening to the Mexican Plateau to the north and a mountain gap to the south-east.

For 50 years, since Dave Keeling started monitoring carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, and the South Pole, scientists have been tracking greenhouse and other trace gases in the global atmosphere. The results have revolutionized our understanding of biogeochemistry and demonstrated that human activities affect climate change and air quality.

The 29th Olympiad took place from 8 to 24 August 2008 in Beijing: more than 10 000 athletes from 204 countries, territories or regions participated. It was historically exceptional in terms of its size, variety of sport events and related activities, operations of municipal infrastructure and daily activities of the general public. Over 1.7 million volunteers provided a full range of services.

Dramatic and sustained improvements have occurred in our prediction capabilities for air quality, climate and weather. Nevertheless, the demands for more accurate predictions have increased due to the exponential growth of population, climate change and the increasing susceptibility of society to natural disasters and poor air quality by concentrating populations in urban centres, coastal regions and river valleys.

The theme of World Meteorological Day this year is “Weather, climate and the air we breathe”. This issue of the Bulletin is conceived around the same theme, with articles on air quality and its manifestation in urban and surrounding regions, couplings with weather and climate change and the impact of pollutant deposition, including nitrogen, on the upper ocean. It opens with a message from the Secretary-General on the occasion of World Meteorological Day, as is customary in the January Bulletin.